RIC seeks stepped up efforts against terrorism

India, Russia and China today sought stepped up efforts aimed at tackling terrorism and prosecuting terrorists and their supporters as their Foreign Ministers discussed cooperation in fighting the menace and on issues like energy security, trade and health care.

India, Russia and China today sought stepped up efforts aimed at tackling terrorism and prosecuting terrorists and their supporters as their Foreign Ministers discussed cooperation in fighting the menace and on issues like energy security, trade and health care. "There could be no justification for any act of terrorism anywhere," said a joint statement issued at the end of a two-day meeting of Foreign Ministers of Russia, India and China (RIC) grouping here.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, Russia's Sergei Lavrov and their Chinese counterpart Yang Jeichi "emphasised the need for full international cooperation in counter-terrorism efforts, particularly within the framework of the United Nations, to prevent terrorist attacks and to prosecute terrorists and their supporters," it said, without naming any country.

"In this context, the Ministers urged all UN member states to urgently conclude and adopt the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism," the statement said. At the end of the trilateral talks, Krishna said the meeting broadly reviewed progress made after the three ministers' last parleys in Bangalore in 2009.

"We reviewed cooperation within various organisations like G-20, BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) and East Asia Summit," he said. "We believe we can benefit immensely from practical cooperation in the fields of disaster management, agriculture, health care and medicine. Experts from our countries stand to gain from the exchanges," he said. The joint statement called for cooperation in the fields of energy, high-tech sectors, innovation and modernisation, aerospace, people-to-people and cultural exchanges besides beneficial cooperation in health care and medicine.

The Ministers also "looked forward to the report of the next Expert-Level Meeting on Cooperation in the field of Health care and Medicine to be convened in Russia in the first half of 2011." "They also noted that further interaction would include shaping effective mechanisms for combating infectious diseases and for food safety," the joint statement said. The three countries also awaited the recommendations of the Trilateral Expert-Level Meeting on Agricultural Cooperation to be held in New Delhi in 2011, it said.